The Air Wing has access to flight simulators to train pilots off the ground in combat manoeuvres and situations that are hard to replicate with regular dogfight practicing and this is their home. A very large rectangular room, the hatch opens up beside the bank of computers that control the simulations and what is seen by the individuals when training sessions are in progress. The sims are actual cockpits cut out of old frames and installed here to function exactly as the real thing, right down to oxygen plugs for suits. The screens of the old days are still there but rarely used, and in each helmet the crews see a projected hyper-realistic depiction of the combat environment and what their cockpits look like with any incurred damage. There are two Vipers, two Predators, and two full-cabin Raptors available.

11/06/2049

Those keeping tabs would know that Gloria has been busy of late, running junior ECOs and pilots through sims, as well as doing number crunching on a project gifted to her by the CAG. Right now she's stood with a couple of the simulation techs discussing options for some new sim or other, which from the sounds of it, seems to be something to do with jamming missiles.

Jacob doesn’t have CAP today, which means he ends up wasting a little time down on the deck pulling a flight recorder, then heads for the sims to replay a couple of things. Catching sight of Gloria speaking to the techs, he slows down, perking up one brow in curiosity. Gingerly juggling the drive in one hand, he clears his throat and nods towards the simulator computers, "Should I hold off on loading anything up?"

Gloria glances across as Jacob announces his presence, and offers her colleague a small wave in greeting. "Hey Quickdraw, don't let us stop you if you've something in mind, this won't be ready to fly for a while. If you're feeling particularly cunning today though you're welcome to come see if you've got any insights to add. CAG has me looking into ways to stop our latest friends from jamming everything."

Jacob stops bouncing the tape as he listens, shifting on his heel to finally approach, though that brow stays lifted, "A way to jam a jammer? Are we sure how they are doing it? I haven’t been on either of the little excursions out lately, just the furball from when we got ambushed, and kinda wasn't paying too close attention to the specifics then…"

"Not so much jam it no," Gloria replies, passing over a dataslate to Jacob so he can have a read of the notes so far. "In the last war Aegis modified on of the missiles to seek out the jammer of the SABRE sites, and we're looking to add to her work. From the data we have the guidance system should port over with very little alteration, the difficulty comes with trying to work out if we can alter what we have for out of atmo combat, or if we need to transfer everything to another missile and integrate the system into that." That appears to be the basis for the work on the slate, but she also adds, "once that’s done, if we can, we'll look at the payload as well. Currently they're delivering cluster munitions which are great for taking out trucks, but may or may not work against hull mounted arrays."

Jacob glances down at the deck for a moment while he mulls that over, as if he had some sort of deep thoughts being considered, then finally offers, "Well, I mean, in the last war, we weren't really networking anything, and now we are. Jamming usually focuses on preventing a single target. I don’t know about you, but we don't ever send out a single strike craft. Is there a way we can use the entire wing as sort of a networked triangulation array? You know, like those huge telescope arrays they always had in the science books at home? So if we had four raptors in a fight, a missile's using telemetry from all four raptors to calculate its flight, so even if IT is blind, it can take the raptor's word for where it needs to fly." He stops there and smiles brightly, "I passed basic physics then knew right away I wasn't gonna be a scientist. So I might just be talking outta my ass."

Gloria considers Jacob's comment for a moment then nods once. "If we didn't already have Aegis' guidance system then that'd be a good place to start. All our sims show that we shouldn't have a problem guiding the missile, it's just propelling it, and then maybe making sure we damage the target in a useful manner. I reckon it'd save time to just strip out the guidance from one of our ship to ship missiles and put Aegis' in in its place, but Franko here reckons it'd be quicker to modify the missile we already have."

Jacob ohs and perks up a little, then flashes a warm grin, "Well, in that case…" He trails off and eyes Franko, then looks back to Gloria, "Well, if he thinks he can do that faster than just moving it, I take his word for it. They make the exploding toys work, I just having fun pulling the trigger and watching all their hard work go off." He even grins for a moment, offering a nod to the aforementioned technician, before shoving the drive and his hands into his pockets, "You know, the Marines have folks that might have some input on making things explode in specific patterns against specific targets, they might have some information to help decide that?"

Gloria's expression makes it clear that she hasn't thought about talking to the marines yet. "Not a bad idea, Scyth wants the propulsion sorted first, but there's no harm is asking a few questions for them to think about. Anyone in particular you can recommend?" She might have the Ordnance officer Qual, but she's a ship-to-ground specialist herself, so outside help is a useful idea. "Do we have any qualified Liaison Officers onboard? They'd be a good place to start if so."

Jacob looks a little uncomfortable for a moment, then again, that bright, lazy smile spreads across his face, "The only EOD person I know of is the one that got busted for mutiny in a combat op, so, yanno. Lately the only interaction I've had with the Marines is cracking offensive jokes with the ones that ride in my bus. I can't even recall who the damned CO is there right now."

Gloria winces slightly at that, "copy that," she replies, sounding a touch dishearted at the news. "I'll head over to marineland when I'm done here and see what trees I can shake. Maybe I should try and find someone to volunteer for Liaison training. Any of wing with Ordnance training you reckon we could convince to go get grubby in the mud for a bit? I'd suggest it to one of the nuggets but they need their Tier Threes first."

Jacob clears his throat, "Well…I prolly oughtta be working on those, m'self. I end up camping out up here and I might need to be taking a closer look at what my jacket says I'm not cleared to be fondling and whispering sweet nothings to, huh?" He waggles both brows at Gloria, but offers, "I'll keep m'eyes open, but if you can't find someone to suggest, you can always throw em my way and I can chat em up. 'Specially if they're cute."
You post your note about 'Qualification Training' in group 11 (Air Wing) as message #30

Gloria raises an eyebrow in a way that suggests she has a cunning plan, then smiles to Jacob. If you're after Ordnance or Weasel I can help with those. I got them then skipped straight up to Mudhen after the last war. Happy to pass the knowledge along. I'll get you the info we have on payload though, and set you loose on the marines if you want? I could do with an extra brain or two on this project." Because obviously, only ECOs have brains in the wing.

Jacob grins brightly, showing the canines, at the offer, and slowly nods, "A'ight. I can get behind that. Fling what you have at me and I'll eat it. 'Bout time I started pulling my own weight around here, right?" He even winks at that, "Damn slackers. We coulda won this war by now. But yeah, point me at somethin' and turn me loose. I'll do it."

Gloria beams back, "I'll let you get on with your sim then, and once I’m finished here I'll throw you what data I have. As I said, currently it's cluster munitions, which Scythe hopes will be enough to damage an array, but we just don't know right now. Thanks for your help though Quickdraw. It's appreciated."

Jacob mmms, "Don’t know that I was actually any help, but ya welcome alla same!" He bows with an overdramatic flourish of one hand and grins, before finally turning on his heel to head for the sim computers, whistling under his breath as he does so.